I recently bought a Stofen softbox for my 420EX Speedlight. I used it to photograph a wedding and it works wonderfully. My question is that I keep hearing about a bounce flash card/device that attaches to the flash head. I have heard many people in this forum say how much they love them. My question is how would the effect be different with one of these instead of my softbox and how is it any better than rubber banding an envelope to the head (a poor mans bounce car I've used many times)?

-- shadow (mshadow818@msn.com), March 14, 2002

Answers

The idea with all of these devices is to cause the light to come from as large a source as is feasible. The larger the source, and the closer it is to the subject the softer the shadow lines. It doesn't really matter that much how you do it. Softbox, bounce card, ceiling bounce, umbrellas. The effect will be a little different with each method but not that much.

All of the devices sold for (or made by you) that can be easily attached and used with hotshoe flashes are by necessity rather small. Consequently they loose effectiveness with anything but close shots. 3-6 feet portraits will be benefited most.

By making your own bounce reflector you can increase the size to something larger than what is commonly sold comercially. This will allow more distance and/or more softening.

-- Jim Strutz (j.strutz@gci.net), March 14, 2002.

The softbox is controlled lighting. It will (for the most part) only light the subject. The bounce card tries to help light the background as well as the subject. If you use the softbox and want to have some background come through you need a longer shutter speed. The bounce card (large) will achieve (more or less) the same thing without as much reliance on the longer exposure. I use a large piece of white cardboard, when the venue allows, ‘banded to my flash. Looks stupid but I get (to my eye) a more pleasing result without having to rely so much on “slower “ shots. My two cents…

-- Paul Nicol (nicol@roadrunner.nf.net), March 15, 2002.

The best bounce/flash card was taught to me 20 years ago by an old newspaper photographer. Just cut an old Clorox bleach bottle to the size you want to use. I like the same size as my 430 flash unfolded. You glue white velcro to the bottom of the Clorox plastic, the opposite black velcro to the top backside of your flash. This gives you a very white and reflective card that is lightweight, nearly indistructible, and stores neatly by reversing it against the flash. This card when used with the flash tipped nearly upright gives you nice soft direct fill light, and bounce off the ceiling. Additionally it raises the source several inches from the lens axis virtually eliminating red eye without the need for a flash bracket. The stofen is superior only if you are in a small room with a low white ceiling and white walls to bounce the light eminnating from all directions. As a professional news photographer I have to laugh when I see the Stofen used outdoors or in a very large room. It is doing nothing but decreasing your effective flash output in those circumstances. Mike Dziak

-- Mike Dziak (biglens2c@hotmail.com), April 12, 2002.